Stabilized flying disc toy

ABSTRACT

A stabilized flying disc toy may include an orthogonal tail portion operatively connected to a disc such that the disc may rotate independently of the tail portion. The tail portion may be removably coupled to the disc by a hub assembly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 and applicable foreign and international law of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/762,699 filed Feb. 8, 2013 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

INTRODUCTION

Children of all ages enjoy toys that can be thrown through the air. Spinning discs are especially popular, due in part to their unique flight characteristics.

SUMMARY

This disclosure relates to devices, systems, and methods related to flying toys, specifically to hand-thrown flying discs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an illustrative flying disc toy.

FIG. 2 is an overhead perspective view of a disc portion of an illustrative flying disc toy according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a side view of illustrative tail and hub portions of a flying disc toy according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a disassembled and an assembled view of an illustrative hub assembly.

FIG. 5 is a partial side sectional view of an illustrative hub assembly inserted into a disc aperture.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of an illustrative hub assembly and disc arrangement.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative packaging arrangement for a flying disc toy according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A stabilized flying disc toy, including apparatuses and methods, is described and illustrated in the present disclosure, and an illustrative toy is generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 1. Unless otherwise specified, toy 10 and/or its various components may, but are not required to, contain at least one of the structure, components, functionality, and/or variations described, illustrated, and/or incorporated herein. Furthermore, the structures, components, functionalities, and/or variations described, illustrated, and/or incorporated herein in connection with the toy may, but are not required to, be included in other toys and similar devices.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of flying disc toy 10. In the example depicted, toy 10 includes a disc portion 12 and a tail portion 14. Tail portion 14 may be operatively connected to disc portion 12 by a hub assembly 16 loosely fit or otherwise inserted, disposed in, or affixed into an aperture 18 in disc portion 12. Toy 10 may be operated by throwing the disc in any manner traditionally performed in throwing flying discs (such as the Frisbee® flying disc), in order to send toy 10 in direction D while simultaneously spinning disc portion 12 in direction S. Tail portion 14 may be configured, during flight, to remain substantially in a plane (X-Z) orthogonal to the plane generally defined by the spinning disc portion (X-Y). Tail portion 14 may also remain substantially in line with the direction of travel (D), stretching out behind disc portion 12 in a trailing or weathervane position as the toy flies through the air, such as when the disc flies in a spinning manner known in the art. Tail portion 14 can remain substantially in line with direction D due to the rotational nature of hub 16, which allows disc portion 12 to spin freely around the hub or at least to spin freely relative to tail portion 14. In other words, disc portion 12 and tail portion 14 are operatively connected by hub assembly 16, but remain independently rotatable with respect to each other. Tail portion 14 may act as a vertical stabilizer for disc portion 12, and may thereby facilitate keeping the disc stable and/or on course as it flies through the air by resisting any turning motion or lateral or pivoting moments that may be encountered.

Disc portion 12 may include any suitable rigid or semi-rigid structure configured to act as a flying disc. Disc portion 12 as depicted in FIG. 1 is generally flat and circular, and includes an outer downward flange or lip for manual gripping and aerodynamic stability. Disc portion 12 may include an upper or first major surface and a lower or second major surface opposite the first major surface. In some examples, disc portion 12 may have other shapes, such as a regular or irregular polygon. In some examples, disc portion 12 may be concave or convex, or a combination thereof. In the example shown, disc portion 12 includes an aperture 18 disposed substantially at the center of the disc. As depicted in the drawings, aperture 18 includes a circular or polygonal hole formed in disc portion 12, and may include a flange, interchangeably referred to as a wall and/or skirt, extending downward below the lower surface of the disc, as best seen in FIG. 5 and described further below. Disc portion 12 may be approximately nine inches in diameter and made of any suitable rigid or semi-rigid material such as plastic, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or polyoxymethylene (POM). In some examples, disc portion 12 may be smaller in diameter (e.g., approximately four inches) and/or may be made of a softer material such as extruded polystyrene foam (e.g., Styrofoam™). In these smaller and/or softer examples, the disc toy may be more suitable for use indoors than a larger or harder embodiment.

Tail portion 14 may include any suitable flexible, semi-flexible, or resilient, substantially planar structure configured to add visual functionality and stability to disc toy 10, and to remain generally stationary with respect to the hub as the disc spins and the toy flies through the air. In some examples, tail portion 14 may include a foam cut-out glued to upper and lower portions of the hub assembly, with a mouth 20 extending around the edge of the disc so as not to interfere with the spinning of the disc. In some examples, such as with a smaller four-inch disc, tail portion 14 may instead be made of a woven textile such as nylon pack cloth, and/or a flexible synthetic or natural material such as Tyvek®. This arrangement allows the tail, interchangeably referred to as a flag, to remain flexible while providing sufficient vertical stability. Materials such as Tyvek® and foam also allow color printing on the tail, to facilitate addition of various images and words. For example, an example of tail portion 14 could include a foam cut-out in the shape of a stylized animal, with the mouth 20 of the tail portion being depicted as the mouth of the stylized animal. A wide variety of animals may be depicted, and the concept of an animal holding the disc in its mouth may be visually appealing and amusing to users. In addition to or instead of animal imagery, the disc and/or tail may include advertising and/or textual messages. Any other suitable imagery may be used, such as national or team flags, abstract images, and/or logos. The discs may also be any suitable color. To enable proper stability, tail portion 14 may be configured with approximately 50% of its mass above and approximately 50% below a centerline C of the disc. In some examples, tail portions will be stylized, and up to approximately 60% of the mass may be above centerline C without greatly reducing the flying characteristics of the toy. Accordingly, tail portion 14 may be described as having a first portion above centerline C of the disc and a second portion below centerline C of the disc. Centerline C may also be described as lying within a plane (X-Y) generally defined by the disc portion.

FIG. 2 shows a disc portion 12′, which is an example of disc portion 12, including aperture 18′, and FIG. 3 shows a tail portion 14′ and a hub assembly 16′, which are examples of tail portion 14 and hub assembly 16, respectively. As depicted in FIG. 3, hub assembly 16′ may be separable into a first or upper portion 22 and a second or lower portion 24, each affixed to the tail portion. In some examples, first portion 22 may include a female connector and second portion 24 may include a male connector (or vice versa), such that the portions may be selectively mated together. An example of this mating functionality is described further below regarding FIG. 4. This arrangement may facilitate disassembly and reassembly of the flying disc toy by removing the tail portion and hub assembly portions from the disc portion.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative hub assembly generally indicated at 30. Hub assembly 30 is an example of hub assembly 16 described above. In this example, a lower portion 32 is configured to fit into a hollow upper portion 34, with locking tabs 36 biased outward and fitting into tab openings 38. This arrangement allows the two portions or pieces of the hub assembly to snap together, and also allows the hub assembly to be subsequently separated into the two portions by twisting a quarter-turn to force the tabs out of the openings and allow disassembly. In this example, the outer surface of upper portion 34 may be tapered to reduce friction between the hub assembly 30 and the aperture of the disc portion. In other examples, the outer surface of upper portion 34, or whatever surface of the hub assembly contacts the aperture, may be convex or straight.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional side view of an illustrative hub assembly 50 inserted into an aperture of a disc portion. In this example, hub assembly 50 includes upper and lower retention flanges 52, and is inserted into an aperture 54 of a disc portion 56 of a flying disc toy according to the present disclosure. Aperture 54 may pass through disc portion 56 and include a skirt 58 extending downward from a lower surface of the disc portion. Skirt 58 may have convex inner walls as shown in FIG. 5, and a lower edge 60 of skirt 58 may also have a radius rather than being squared off. These convex and radial surfaces facilitate a reduction in friction between aperture 54 and hub assembly 50 by reducing the surface area available for contact between the two components.

FIG. 6 shows an alternative mechanism for attaching tail portion 14 to disc portion 12. In this example, two one-way locking mechanisms 62 are used to retain a shaft 64 holding the tail portion in hub assembly 16. Each mechanism may include a biased, one-way locking flange configured such that the flange will pass through the aperture in only one direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a tapered, spring-biased flange may be included such that the flange springs outward after passing through the aperture, thereby preventing the shaft from passing back through the aperture, and securing the tail to the disc portion. The mechanism may be overcome by applying manual force to overcome the spring bias and thereby allowing the flange or flanges to be collapsed.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative packaging configuration and dimensions of an illustrative flying disc toy according to the present disclosure. As shown, the flat tail portion can be laid flat in substantially the same plane as the disc portion, and the whole assembly can be attached to a flat hanger portion made of cardboard or some other suitable material. This flattened storage capability allows the toy to be hung in bulk on store displays without consuming excessive storage and display space.

Based on the above description and the associated drawings, the following examples, in the form of numbered paragraphs, describe various embodiments of apparatuses and methods of the disclosure.

A. A hand-launched toy may include a disc portion having a first major surface and a second major surface opposite the first major surface; and a substantially planar tail portion operatively connected to the disc portion at a central hub such that the disc portion is rotatable independent of the tail portion, the tail portion having an upper portion on the side of the first major surface and a lower portion on the side of the second major surface; wherein the tail portion is configured to remain generally in a trailing position orthogonal to the disc portion when the disc portion is thrown through the air.

B. The device of paragraph A, wherein the central hub comprises a hub assembly removably disposed in an aperture in the disc portion.

C. The device of paragraph B, wherein the aperture comprises a cylindrical wall.

D. The device of paragraph C, wherein the cylindrical wall has a convex inner surface.

E. The device of paragraph C, wherein the circular wall of the aperture depends from the second major surface of the disc portion.

F. The device of paragraph B, wherein the hub assembly comprises a first cylindrical portion having a hollow center and at least one lateral aperture, and a second portion configured to matingly engage the first portion and having at least one lateral tab biased outward to fit into the at least one lateral aperture of the first portion.

G. The device of paragraph B, wherein the hub assembly comprises manually separable hub portions.

H. The device of paragraph A, wherein the upper portion and lower portion of the tail portion are joined such that the tail portion forms a mouth passing around the disc portion.

I. The device of paragraph A, wherein the tail portion has a mass, and wherein less than approximately 60% of the mass lies above a plane defined by the disc portion.

J. The device of paragraph I, wherein the mass of the tail portion is substantially balanced above and below the plane defined by the disc portion.

K. The device of paragraph A, wherein the tail portion is configured to display a shape and an image of a stylized animal.

The disclosure set forth above may encompass multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. Although each of these inventions has been disclosed in its preferred form(s), the specific embodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limiting sense, because numerous variations are possible. Where the description recites “a” or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof, such description includes one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements. Further, ordinal indicators, such as first, second or third, for identified elements are used to distinguish between the elements, and do not indicate a required or limited number of such elements, and do not indicate a particular position or order of such elements unless otherwise specifically stated.

The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and nonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions, and/or properties disclosed herein. The following claims particularly point out certain combinations and subcombinations regarded as novel and nonobvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements, and/or properties may be claimed in applications claiming priority from this or a related application. Such claims, whether directed to a different invention or to the same invention, and whether broader, narrower, equal, or different in scope to the original claims, also are regarded as included within the subject matter of the inventions of the present disclosure. 

We claim:
 1. A hand-thrown toy including a disc portion having a first major surface and a second major surface opposite the first major surface; and a substantially planar tail portion operatively connected to the disc portion at a central hub such that the disc portion is rotatable independent of the tail portion, the tail portion having an upper portion on the side of the first major surface and a lower portion on the side of the second major surface; wherein the tail portion is configured to remain generally in a trailing position orthogonal to the disc portion when the disc portion is thrown through the air.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the central hub comprises a hub assembly removably disposed in an aperture in the disc portion.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the aperture comprises a cylindrical wall.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the cylindrical wall has a convex inner surface.
 5. The device of claim 3, wherein the circular wall of the aperture depends from the second major surface of the disc portion.
 6. The device of claim 2, wherein the hub assembly comprises a first cylindrical portion having a hollow center and at least one lateral aperture, and a second portion configured to matingly engage the first portion and having at least one lateral tab biased outward to fit into the at least one lateral aperture of the first portion.
 7. The device of claim 2, wherein the hub assembly comprises manually separable hub portions.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the upper portion and lower portion of the tail portion are joined such that the tail portion forms a mouth passing around the disc portion.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the tail portion has a mass, and wherein less than approximately 60% of the mass lies above a plane defined by the disc portion.
 10. The device of claim 9, wherein the mass of the tail portion is substantially balanced above and below the plane defined by the disc portion.
 11. The device of claim 1, wherein the tail portion is configured to display a shape and an image of a stylized animal. 